Yangon

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT YANGON - PAGE 4

NEW DELHI: India has offered $150 million of credit for project exports to set up a SEZ in Myanmar and has expressed hope that the neighbouring country would permit Indian banks to set up branches there. The issues came up for discussion during the three-day visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon. For the SEZ project, Myanmar government will provide suitable land for the purpose. "India has offered $150 million of credit for project exports for establishing a SEZ at Sittwe in Myanmar," an official statement said.

Myanmar sits at the crossroads of Asia's great civilisations of India and China, and looks out onto the vast Indian Ocean next to Thailand. One of South East Asia's largest and most diverse countries, Myanmar stretches from the sparkling islands of the Andaman Sea in the south right up into the Eastern Himalayan mountain range. To this day Myanmar remains one of the most mysterious and undiscovered destinations in the world. A land of breathtaking beauty and charm yet only recently emerging into the modern world.

NEW DELHI: Even while it tries to restrict China's influence in south-east Asia, India is not averse to building new partnerships with Beijing. The Indian Navy will be conducting joint exercises with its Chinese counterparts in what is going to be first-of-its-sort-of-engagement with a neighbour still approached with wariness and suspicion. The decision to go in for the joint Indo-Chinese naval exercise signals New Delhi's determination to improve ties with its powerful neighbour, and comes close on the heels of the discussions between the special representatives of the two countries to resolve the decades-long border dispute.

WASHINGTON: The United States has asked India along with other nations to use its influence with Myanmar to secure entry of the assistance teams into the cyclone-ravaged country. "We have the US ambassador for ASEAN Scot Marciel in the region. And he is working the issue. We have also been in contact with China, Japan and India about their using whatever leverage and influence they might have with the Burmese regime," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said. His remarks came in the backdrop of US first lady Laura Bush's recent remarks in which she suggested that India could help Yangon in a much better way than the United States, and that Myanmar's military junta might accept help from New Delhi "more readily".

LUDHIANA: Trade between India and Myanmar is estimated to have fallen short of the one billion dollar target during 2006-07 due to lack of interest among traders of the two neighbouring countries. "Although the final figures of bilateral trade is yet to be released, we expect the trade figures would be restricted to just US$ 650 million during 2006-07, falling short of US$ 1 billion target," Indo Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industries President G L Goenka said.

NEW DELHI: The Chief of Myanmar Air Force, Major Gen. Myet H. arrives here tomorrow as India tries to reach out to a regime it once considered to have moved uncomfortably close to China. The Myanmarese air force chief's visit is just part of a series of interactions, both military and civilian, encouraged by New Delhi in the last few years. The armies of the two countries have, in the last two years, undertaken several joint exercises. Earlier this year, the Indian and Myanmarese navies held similar demonstrations.

NEW DELHI: With Myanmar taking steps to restore democracy, India today said the new path charted by it would help strengthen ties between the two countries and enable increased investment from Indian companies there. "I have no doubt that as Myanmar continues on its new path charted out by its leaders, the strong ties between our two countries will only deepen and strengthen even further," Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said at a function here. He said as the "destinies" of the two countries are closely linked both on land and on the sea, "a new identity will be created" in the region with enhanced economic and cultural ties.

NEW DELHI: India will begin exporting surplus diesel from north-east refineries to Myanmar from June this year even as it explores the possibility of laying a product pipeline to the energy-deficit neighbour. "We hope to export 125,000 tonnes of diesel from Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) by road to Myanmar from June end or early July. Our technical team is in Myanmar to sort out pricing issues," sources said here. Myanmar imports about 5m tonnes of diesel every year from bordering Thailand.

NEW DELHI: Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi criticised India in a newspaper interview on Wednesday for doing business with the military dictators who held her under house arrest until 11 days ago. Suu Kyi, who lived in India in the 1980s, was released in Yangon on November 13 after spending more than seven consecutive years in detention. India was once a staunch supporter of her cause, but began engaging with Myanmar's junta in the mid-1990s over security and energy issues.

NEW DELHI: India will begin exporting surplus diesel from north-east refineries to Myanmar from June this year even as it explores the possibility of laying a product pipeline to the energy-deficit neighbour. "We hope to export 125,000 tonnes of diesel from Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) by road to Myanmar from June end or early July. Our technical team is in Myanmar to sort out pricing issues," sources said here. Myanmar imports about 5m tonnes of diesel every year from bordering Thailand.